


lost for a little while

by A_Likely_Story



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Booker didnt betray the team, Feral Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Nile is the best, Temporary Character Death, Terrible day, horrible night, supportive husbands
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:48:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26070649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Likely_Story/pseuds/A_Likely_Story
Summary: Nicky had already taken the first steps into the violent mouth of unconsciousness and the horrors that waited there, ready to assault him with a smile and a warm welcome.So while Nicky sleeps, Joe waits.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 10
Kudos: 140





	1. Chapter 1

It has been a terrible, terrible day, and it is turning into a horrible, horrible night. They are all squeezed into one room, in a sterile open plan apartment. It was all Copley could find them in such short notice, after the mission went irrevocably to shit. 

Whoever was here last had sprayed everything in a noxious lemon scent, which assaults Joe’s nose every time he forgets and breathes it in. It is making it impossible to sleep. He and Nicky are squashed into a single bed, which normally he would gripe and groan about, but to be honest, he is grateful for it tonight, to have Nicky pressed up against him, the bed being taken up by the both of them, no space remaining.   
Nile is on a futon beside them, which looks stylish but uncomfortable, and Andy is on the professional looking couch, piled on with blankets to make it into something more bed like. Booker is furthest away, having laid claim to the only other bed, which has clearly never been used. Or never been used for anything useful.   
It is silent. Nile conked out pretty much as soon as her head hit the pillow, so Joe supposes the futon was the right choice for her (a bed would have been wasted on her). Andy had succumbed to sleep within minutes as well. She was more prone to full nights of sleep now that she was mortal. Booker had downed some whiskey and read a little, but now he was snoring softly.   
Nicky had fallen asleep quickly as well. Too quickly. Joe had slotted in beside him, lacing their fingers together, whispering into his ear to ward the nightmares away. But it had been too late. Nicky had already taken the first steps into the violent mouth of unconsciousness and the horrors that waited there, ready to assault him with a smile and a warm welcome.   
So while Nicky sleeps, Joe waits.   
.....   
He is almost drifting asleep when it starts. A small tremor coursing up Nicky's body and bleeding onto his.   
“Nicolò,” Joe says into Nicky's ear.   
The tremors turn into thrashes, and Nicky nearly falls out of bed.   
“Nicoló,” Joe is sharper now. Firmer. Not out of anger, but from concern.   
He grabs at Nicky. Nile and Andy are awake now, Andy swearing and turning on the standing lamp.   
Nicky thrashes his way out of Joe's arm at the same time as Nile, bleary eyed with sleep stands up.   
As Nicky falls, he grabs his gun. Instinct, Joe thinks abstractly, as his tired brain tries to catch up.   
“Nicky,” Nile reaches out, worried.   
Andy voices a noise of refrain.   
Nicky stares at Nile for a split second, and even for that moment, Joe can tell he doesn’t have a clue who she is. He is awake but not yet with them. She is a threat.   
Nicky shoots Nile, point blank, less than a foot away.   
A dull, dark silence settles after the sound of the gunshot fades away.   
“Fuck,” Booker says, jumping to his feet.   
Andy swears as well, and kicks something.   
Nicky holds the gun and his hands are shaking.   
“Nobody move, “ Joe says, because if Nicky is still wherever his mind has taken him then it does not matter who they are to him. He will kill them and he will hate himself for it when he returns.   
Booker backs up slightly and covers Andy, who looks furious but lets him.   
“Nicolò “ Joe makes his voice kind and soft and appealing, like a man holding out food to stray cat, hiding the fear and the pain he has for his Nicky.   
Nicky turns his head slowly, and looks at him. He is not yet back with them. His eyes are huge but empty, his jaw is set a little off, everything about him screams danger. If the situation was better, Joe would be hugely turned on.   
But. Nile awakes from her death in choking gasps. Nicky turns from Joe and raises the gun-  
And falls, blood pooling from his arm where Andy shot him.   
Booker moves forward and takes Nicky's gun from him, checking him over as he does it.   
“He's.. I think he just passed out, Joe. Look, he's healing already, he just needs to... Fuck,” Booker shakes his head sadly at the whole situation. Nile is sitting up, nearly beside Nicky, grabbing at her head.   
“You good, kid?” Booker asks her, and Nile doesn’t even register the “kid” and kick up a fuss, just nods mutely.   
Joe and Andy are locked in a silent conversation with each other. During it, Joe reaches down and pulls Nicky into his arms. Still alive. Still breathing. Just not conscious, which is probably actually a good thing, giving the circumstance.   
Eventually Andy speaks. “Everyone clean up. There's a place I know about ten minutes away.”  
Nile furrows her brow. “Is it safe?” she asks, looking down at her own blood.   
Andy scans the room, her jaw taut. “Safer than here,” she pronounces grimly. She walks towards them, mouth curving downward at the sight of Nicky in Joe's arms.   
She places a hand on Nike’s shoulder. “You good?”  
Nile nods again. Andy takes a breath. “I mean, you don’t need to be. This is all. A lot.”  
Nile looks from Andy to Nicky. “It wasn’t his fault,” she says, standing up and dusting herself down. “And I'm all healed up.” She goes to pack her stuff, and they watch her fondly.   
“We lucked out,” Booker mutters, folding on a jacket.   
“Yeah, we did,” Andy replies, voice soft, before squatting down beside Joe and Nicky. She hesitates for a second, then strokes Nicky's head. Nicky's face is still for the most part, but his eyelids are flickering and his jaw is ticking slightly.   
“Joe,” she says, because Joe is frantically whispering into Nicky's ear, a mismash of languages.   
“Joe, we need to go. He'll come round when he needs to. Joe.”  
Joe looks up, sees the truth in Andy's eyes. They've been here before. Nearly a century ago, but still relevant.   
“Okay, boss,” he says, getting him and Nicky up. “Okay.”  
....   
“Is he... Okay?” Nile asks, once they have bundled Nicky into the car and are driving away.   
Booker gives a tight little laugh and Joe glares at him.   
“Don’t be an asshole, Book,” Andy reprimands from the drivers seat.   
Booker holds his arms up in surrender.   
“I just meant that Nicky's just being Nicky. You know, feral.”  
Nile wonders if she is going to witness Joe strangling Booker. Andy obviously sees it going this way because she destroys Booker with a look and he backs down.   
“I will remember you said that,” Joe tells Booker, almost pleasantly, “and I will tell Nicky when he wakes up, and he will show you exactly how feral he can be.”  
Andy makes a disgruntled noise. “No, you won’t,” she says, and the entire car gives a collective wince, because although the Bad Thing has already happened, when Nicky realises what he has done, the Bad Thing will become infinitely worse.   
.....


	2. Chapter 2

Nicky woke up in a disorientated panic. It wasn’t a new sensation as such, but it wasn’t something he particularly enjoyed.  
He definitely was not in the same bed as he had fallen asleep in last night. The bed was, in fact, a far nicer bed than the one from last night, which should have been a good thing but actually made the situation more disconcerting.  
He was not in the same room as last night. This was a bedroom of his own, not the strange shared communal space of the previous day.  
Joe entered the room, and Nicky felt his body relax somewhat, a visceral reaction to seeing him, something whole and real in this strange alternate reality.  
But. Joe's posture was slightly stiff, even though his body was open and inviting. He smiled at Nicky, but Nicky detected an edge to the smile. Worry.  
“My love,” Joe said, approaching him. Nicky pulled himself off the bed and met him halfway. He felt somewhat.. Dizzy? A migraine appeared at the edge of his peripheral and caged him in.  
Joe grabbed his elbows and guided him gently back to the bed.  
“I don’t understand,” Nicky said, sifting rapidly through his jumble of memories. “We were... somewhere different last night. Was there an attack? I-“  
Suddenly his brain put it all together; the dizziness, the migraine, the change of setting. The knowledge of what he must have done slicing through his brain and sending shockwaves to his heart.  
It had happened again.

...  
Joe saw it, the exact moment that Nicky realised what had happened. He was already pale, a small beading of sweat coating his face, but he turned even paler, his skin leached completely of colour. His expression changed almost minutely. If you didn’t know Nicky, if you hadn’t studied him like he was a particularly precious piece of art work for centuries, it would be impossible to pick up on. His look of inner horror.  
Nicky's eyes were wild and he looked beyond Joe, murmuring in a long dead language. Joe clasped Nicky's hand.  
“Nicoló.”  
Nicky looked at him at him and then shuttered his eyes closed.  
They sat like that for a while, suspended in time, two heartbeats moving in tandem, two souls joined for eternity. Joe waited. He was never exactly sure where Nicky went, after, but he always made sure that Nicky knew he didn’t need to go there alone.  
When Nicky reopened his eyes, he nodded at Joe. Joe nodded back, leaning in so their foreheads touched.  
“Tell me,” Nicky said, letting out a breath.  
“Nicky.” Joe hated the retelling. It was the only story of Nicky he was ever loathe to tell.  
“Or get Andy to do it.” Nicky's voice was resigned. They had done this dance before. Perhaps it was foolish at this stage to assume the steps would be any different.  
Joe raked his hands through his hair, considering. Andy would be more objective when telling, whereas Joe would try to minimise what happened and therefore make it seem worse than it actually was. But they were safe in this room, cocooned from the team. If only Nicky didn’t have such a need to know.

There was a knock on the door, and Joe thanked the Gods, or more accurately Andy's uncanny ability to know when they needed space and when they needed her.  
She leant against the doorframe, her expression soft as she looked at Nicky.  
“Migraine?” she asked him.  
“Yes,” Nicky sighed.  
Andy moved from the door and grabbed a chair, pulling it so she was sitting facing Nicky. Joe shifted so he was sitting slightly behind Nicky, his left shoulder touching Nicky's right.  
He picked up Nicky's hand and began drawing circles on it. It was a calming gesture, for then both.  
“Nicky,” Andy began, after exchanging a look with Joe. “First of all, you know it's not a big deal, right? We can all heal.”  
“You can’t,” Nicky pointed out, voice flat.  
Andy winced and Joe bowed his head.  
“Okay, maybe that was a bad opener,” Andy conceded.  
“Please just tell me what happened, Andy.”  
Joe leant further into Nicky, resting his head on Nicky's shoulder.  
Andy shifted in her chair, then locked eyes with Nicky.  
“You had a nightmare. Fell out of bed. Grabbed the gun. We couldn't wake you. Joe tried but you were too far away. It would have been fine but Nile got too close. Obviously not her fault, not _anyone’s_ fault. Nile ended up being shot. In the head. I shot you to disarm you. You passed out, then we had to lug your heavy ass all the way over here.” Andy quirked a smile. “The end.”  
“I shot Nile.” Nicky reframed the words.  
“Yes, but, “ Andy fanned out her hands. “Nicky, I've shot Nile. Before she even knew she could heal.”  
Nicky just looked at her. “She thought she was safe with us.”  
There was a silence, which Joe hurried to fill.  
“Really, you did us a favour,” Joe said brightly, then immediately realised the error of his words as two unimpressed looks were sent in his direction.  
“Not about Nile,” Joe spluttered. He waved his arms around to encapsulate the room. “I mean, this place is far better than the other place. The lemons..” he wrinkled his nose, and then smiled. “And Nicky, the owner. She loves Andy! She is this little old lady, called... Called Babs, right? And Andy is like her grand daughter. So she calls Andy all these-“  
“Joe,” Andy cut him off, and Joe looked at Nicky.  
“Oh,” he said.  
Andy stroked Nicky's hair before she left.  
He leant into the touch and then looked up at her.  
“I am sorry.”  
“There is nothing to forgive, Nicky,”

....


End file.
